


pillow forts and sunshine

by SaekoCrolla (Crollalanza)



Series: Sports Fest 2018 Haikyuu!! [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Loss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 07:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15138278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crollalanza/pseuds/SaekoCrolla
Summary: TIME: before a revelationPLACE: in a pillowfort





	pillow forts and sunshine

For the first time ever, Kenma wondered if this was how it had started with Kuro. Had he been wishing to hide, to drown out noise, or simply not exist for a while and that had been why he’d stuffed pillows over his head?

Of course with Kuro it had become a habit and Kenma didn’t intend to spend the rest of his days with two pillows clamped to the sides of his head and one over the top, but for now it was the only thing that made sense.

As a pillowfort it was pathetic, but it was all he had the energy for and it did its job, which was to block out the world for a while.

Kuro, his mom had said, had called round first thing in the morning, but left soon after. Maybe he accepted the story that Kenma was ‘resting’, after all his exhaustion after matches was well-known. Or maybe he didn’t have the strength to deal with it right now, his Captain’s spirit having been used up supporting everyone else in the team.

_I’ll text later. He’ll understand._

Because Kuro would. It was Kenma who didn’t.

“Kenma…”

“I’m okay, just tired.”

“You have a visitor.”

“Tell Kuro I’m fine,” he lied.

“It’s not … um …”

“Kai-san?” Unusual but not unknown.

“N-no.”

He groaned. “If it’s Lev or Inuoka, then tell them to go away. I’ll see them at school.”

“Kenma!” His mum’s voice became insistent. “It’s no one from Nekoma. It’s Hinata-chan.”

_Huh?_

“I’m letting him in to see you.”

“Mum, I’m not—”

There was steel in her voice. “He’s a guest. I’m not turning him away.”

The door clicked open, giving him little chance to get ready, apart from moving the pillow from his face, an action he didn’t quite complete in time, and found himself face-to-face with the orange-haired boy with a sunbeam smile, while Kenma was drawn and with a pillow in his hand.

“Kenma-san!” Shouyou blinked, and the smile faltered. Maybe it hadn’t been there, and Kenma had imagined in because in his mind’s eye Shouyou was always smiling.

 “What are you doing here?” he muttered.

Shouyou edged further into the room. “Uh, I didn’t get to see you after the game. Sorry, it took us forever to get changed and then when we got out, Kuroo-san told us most of you had to leave.”

Kenma flapped his hand. “Yeah, we were tired. Kuro’s got endless stamina, but the rest of us were exhausted.” Shattered, more like. Into pieces.  He sucked his lip, thinking what to say. “Fukurodani tomorrow, eh?”

“Ha … yeah … it’ll be tough.”

“All games are tough at Nationals, Shouyou.”

“Are _we_ okay, Kenma-san?” he asked, and scuffed his toes on the rug.

“Huh? Yeah…” He frowned. Why did Shouyou even need to ask?

“So … um … you can tell me to shut up or to leave,” Shouyou said, sounding wary, but also excited, “but what did you think of the game?”

And Kenma smiled, not wide but there, as his recollection of the day’s game flooded his mind. How good it had felt battling wits with Kageyama, how proud he’d been of Kuro’s leadership, how Lev had risen to the challenge undaunted, how … how …

“The game was amazing, Shouyou. It ‘mattered’,” he whispered, and a tear rolled out of his eye. “But I never thought losing would hurt this much.”


End file.
